My Best Friend is a Hat
by Emme2589
Summary: Mario used to have one brother, now he has two. Takes place just after Mario and Cappy have collected every power moon in Mario Odyssey. Based on a real dream I actually had one night.
1. Chapter 1

I looked out over the vast horizon of sand and water. We weren't in the seaside kingdom though, we were in a place like the sand kingdom, but with palm trees and lots of water. I think it's called "The Oasis Kingdom".

The world was beautiful, but arguably, the best part about this whole day was the arm around my shoulders. I reached for her hand just so I could feel the shape of her fingers under mine. Princess Peach. Everything about her is gorgeous, from her fluffy blonde hair to her graceful poise, she radiates something calm, something cheerful. Something sugary-sweet.

I had both my arms on the railing of The Odyssey as it drifted through the sky, among the hundreds of other airships that were admiring the view. Sometimes, I would feel Cappy shift on my head, probably to look around easier without abandoning his comfortable perch, and Peach simply kept one arm around my shoulders, with the other gripping the railing so as not to fall over. Even Tiara, who was normally floating beside Peach, was nestled behind her bangs, resting after a long day of travel.

As the sun set over the sparkling water, Cappy sighed, "Isn't this amazing? A whole day without fighting...it's like a dream..."

I gave a nod in agreement.

"A day with no Bowser is a good day to me." Peach loosened her grip on the railing so she could lean back, looking at the stars appearing in the absence of the sun.

"I should have gone exploring ages ago!" Tiara squeezed her eyes shut in a bright smile, "The world is so cool!"

I've been in those stars before. Sometimes I forget just how far away they are. I watched Peach as she looked out over the sky, which was darkening steadily.

Nothing could have ruined this moment.

 _Crash!_

"Waaah!" Cappy flew off my head, reverting to his ordinary top hat form. Something had struck the side of the Odyssey, and it was beginning to fall out of the sky.

"Oh no!" Tiara slid from Peach's head to grip her shoulder, "What's happening!?"

I ran to the back of the Odyssey, where a good chunk of the engine had been blown off. More chunks of metal and empty power moons were now breaking off as the ship broke down, and I realized that as more attacks hit the side of the ship, it was quickly catching fire.

Realizing the extent of the damage, I sprinted to the front of the ship, grabbed Peach around her waist, and jumped out of the ship. Her shriek echoed in my ears before the huge splash of the ship crashing into the water drowned it out. We landed in the water soon after.

"Mario!" Cappy grabbed the straps of my overalls, trying to get my head over the water in case the impact hurt me. Tiara did the same with Peach, tugging on the sleeves of her dress. I pulled her onto the beach, trying to be gentle after we hit the water so hard.

"What was that!?" Peach watched in horror as the Odyssey split in half, still on fire, as it began to sink below the waves.

"No!" Cappy tried to fly to the broken ship, but I grabbed his rim. Dying with the ship was not my plan.

"Cappy, stop!" Peach shook the water from her now messy hair, "It's gone for now, okay?"

Cappy drooped, but he stopped fighting against me, so I carefully let go.

"I know, but..."

I pat the top of his head. He was the most excited about The Odyssey when we first used power moons to fix it, so it was no surprise that he was the most hurt by its demise.

"But who did that?" Peach carefully stood up, weighed down by the water in her skirt.

I surveyed the sky with her. She was right, there was nobody there. Normally, Bowser is big and flashy, so if this was his doing, he would have announced himself by now. And besides, he is kind of crazy, but he wouldn't put Peach in such deliberate danger.

Cappy jumped backward, "Mario, look!"

I followed his pointing arm. What my eyes fell on was shocking.

I reached out to grab Peach's arm, but instead she was ripped from my grasp.

"Mario!"

I bolted after her. She was being carried by a monstrous black and gnarly woman who glided through the air, tightly gripping Peach's arm until she led her to the highest tower of a dark, black castle. It reminded me of the arena in the ruined kingdom where I fought Bowser's dragon.

The walls of the castle were too slippery to climb, and the door was blocked by a giant keyhole. Completely different from the brick of the rest of the castle, the door was covered in shifting rainbow colors. It was so odd.

I backed away from the door, looking up at Peach. Tiara had followed her up, which I had expected, but of course Peach couldn't jump from the tower, because the gnarled woman was right there, ready to simply pull her back up and prevent her from parachuting down.

My only option was to get to her, and get rid of the monster holding her hostage. But the door...

Cappy furrowed his eyebrows, "I'll go check on them! Wait here!" and then he flew up to the princess, and his sister. After a short conversation, Cappy flew back down to me.

"They aren't hurt, besides the arm where that monster grabbed Peach, but I can't fight that thing alone. We'll have to come back when we can go up there together."

I looked up at Peach and Tiara sadly.

"They'll be okay." Cappy followed my gaze with his own, "I hope..."

Peach smiled down at me, understanding.

I saluted her, then ran off.

We'd need to find that key.

* * *

"Are you sure you can't find it?"

I came back up to the surface for the twentieth time, resting along the sandy bank where the Odyssey was shot down.

"No?"

I shook my head.

"Are you really sure?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"Fine fine, but...why would it just disappear?" Cappy waved his arms in frustration, "It should be down there! Why is it just gone!?"

I sighed. I didn't know, but we would need a new ship if we were going to look for that key.

"Where are we going to find a new ship?"

Well, there was no point in staying in the same place all night, so I figured we should at least get to the town in this kingdom (if there was one), so I motioned for Cappy to follow me.

"Where are we going? It's getting hard to see."

The bay was awash in soft blue colors, and it was getting very cold, especially with the water still clinging to my clothes. There was a cliff over the bay which sent a long shadow across the ground, opposite of the glowing moon. I pushed my wet hair out of my face, heading towards the cliff. The area behind it was filled with water, followed by sand that stretched into the horizon. Cappy just sighed, transforming back into my usual red cap and resting on my head.

I should have known our perfect vacation would be ruined by isomething./i Now we had no ship, no moons, our souvenirs burned and drowned, and all my outfits in the closet were gone too. In a sense, we were back at square one. And unlike all the times when our ship would crash during Bowser's marriage plot, no amount of moon power could save it, so we would need to get a new one.

"Mario?"

I hummed, slowing my pace so he knew I was listening.

"Are you cold?"

I hadn't realized how much I was shaking, but my pace was warming me up, and my clothes were almost completely dry by now. Why had he bothered to ask?

I had moved to the other side of the cliff, where I would have to swim over to the sand, and then continue walking across the desert.

Cappy flew into the air, back in his white top hat form, "I really don't think you should swim over. It's too far, and it's really cold. I don't want you to freeze."

But there were no creatures around to posses, and there were no checkpoints on the other side to zip to. What other choice was there?

"Look at the wall behind you." Cappy pulled my attention to the grooves and rough cracks, "This cliff face isn't too high. I can help you get up it, and then you can run along the top of it. No swimming required!"

I considered the idea. I knew the wall could be climbed, but it was higher than a normal string of jumps could get me. And this close to the water, if I fell high enough up, I would land in it, and possibly freeze.

"Here, I'll show you." Cappy pointed to a particularly rough edge; One I could potentially grasp, "Throw me up there, then jump to me."

He switched back to cap form, then plopped back onto my head.

I grabbed his brim, then threw him as he'd instructed to the crack. I jumped, diving towards him, and he propelled me upward, letting me grab the small ledge.

But I couldn't throw Cappy if I was holding a ledge, so where was he going with this?

"Okay!" he jumped back to my head, "Good! Now jump up from the ledge, there's a groove up there wide enough to get one foot on! Throw me again while you're up there!"

I braced myself. I'd never been able to do that before, but I guess I'd never really tried. Was that possible?

"Just try it!" Cappy gave me a nudge, "You don't have to jump high, just enough to free one of your hands!"

So I pulled upwards on the crack, wedging my foot into a rough dimple on the rocky wall. I jumped up, then threw Cappy and kicked off the groove, using him to propel myself up the rest of the wall.

"Wow!" Cappy caught up to me, rejoining me on my head, "I didn't actually know if that would work! Nice job!"

I wondered what other applications that trick had. Potentially, I'd be able to wall jump up a single straight wall, though I'm sure that would take lots of practice. I gave Cappy an approving thumbs-up before running along the wall.

"Whoa!"

I stopped. We came to the same realization at the same time. Where the wall curved towards the lake, buildings lit with scented candles were hidden on the other side, where we hadn't been able to see it. It was a little too close to the black castle for my tastes, but it was a town. We'd be able to rest there.

"Well, it's a good thing we didn't overlook that..." Cappy shifted closer to the right side of my head, "Why is it so hidden?"

I gestured towards the castle, which took up all the attention just because of how ominous it was compared to the surrounding grass, water, and sand.

"Oh..." Cappy shifted back to his usual position, "That thing doesn't iwant/i the town to be seen..."

I could see why. The deep valley town looked to be in poor condition, with peeling paint and lots of scary dark corners. A ladder down from the wall led to the main plaza, where few people were outside.

Climbing down, I quickly noticed that it was even colder here than it was higher up, which made my shivering come back tenfold. It wasn't as cold as it was in Shiveria, but that didn't mean it was pleasant. I headed towards the small bonfire in the middle of the plaza to warm up, and something caught my eye as it did.

Hundreds of drained power moons. Thousands, even. They were everywhere, in giant heaps. The fire chased the cold away, but I was still chilled by the sight. This town didn't look nearly big enough to use that many power moons. New Donk City was just big enough to churn through hundreds of power moons a day, so how did this tiny place use so much power?

Did it all go to the strange castle where Peach was being held? The thought didn't calm my nerves.

 _"This kingdom gives me the heebie-jeebies..."_ Cappy whispered, apparently not brave enough to speak up, _"How did we completely overlook this place when we were up in The Odyssey?"_

I could only imagine why, considering all the empty power moons.

It was then that creatures began to come out from their buildings. Some of them I recognized as the skeletons from the sand kingdom, but most of them looked more like the monster in the castle, resembling dead trees, their arms like spindly branches. They weren't talking, but they weren't trying to attack. They just seemed...curious.

Cappy pushed down on my head, seeming apprehensive, _"Mario, don't attack. I want to see what they'll do."_

They were quiet a little longer, until one of them spoke...

"Is your hat alive?"

I blinked. That wasn't the voice I'd expected at all. It sounded high-pitched and squeaky, like a voice you'd expect from a mouse. It was so ridiculous I thought I would laugh.

Cappy, on the other hand, did, falling off my head in his giggle-fit. He picked himself up, switching back to his top hat form and rubbing tears from his eyes, "Sorry! Hahaha! You aren't hostile?"

"Hostile? No, we're the people of this-!"

"Hehehehe!" Cappy tried to contain himself as his whole frame shook. Everything seemed more exaggerated when you were a tiny hat, "Sorry, continue."

"-town." the thing finished, it's white eyes seeming to give off an odd glow, "Are you seeking the princess in the high tower?"

"And her tiara, yes." Cappy shook the rest of his giggles off, heading towards the creature that had spoken, "Do you know how to get the key to the door?"

"Key?" he turned to one of the other creatures, "We know of a key. You can take the underwater subway to the next kingdom where it resides."

"Underwater subway?"

We'd passed a tiny submarine exploring the water kingdoms, but we hadn't realized it was a subway.

"Yes, it is this way."

We followed the creature around a corner, where it had to push entire piles of old power moons out of the way. I helped a little, collecting them for coins. By the time it was cleared out, I was all the way back to 9,999 coins (after using all of them to buy the skeleton outfit).

"Free of charge." the creature stepped aside for us, "We have too many coins anyway."

I could see that.

The submarine was about as wide as The Odyssey had been, with plenty of cushioned seats and an entirely glass ceiling that opened on a hinge. The canal of water it was in wasn't very big at all, but I could see the water went underground, towards the place Cappy made me avoid swimming in, even. It looked pretty dark, but the sub was covered in headlights to compensate.

"Thank you. Let's go, Mario." Cappy slid back onto my head as I boarded the sub. The hatch closed on top of me, and the sub sank below the water to bring us to the next kingdom over.


	2. Chapter 2

Though the subway had lots of lights on the outside, there weren't many on the inside, so Cappy didn't move from his usual spot the whole time we were in the dark. He shifted around a lot, though. I don't think he likes being in this much darkness.

"How can you stand it?"

"Hm?" stand what?

"Your friend getting kidnapped all the time..." Cappy relaxed, settling more comfortably in my hair, "This is only the second time Tiara's been kidnapped, but Peach has been kidnapped dozens of times, right? So...isn't it terrible having to save her all the time? Knowing that every other week she's in danger?"

I leaned back in my chair, looking down my large nose at the lights outside. Of course it was awful, I worry about Peach every day, but it didn't take long to realize that Bowser does care about her, so he wouldn't let her get hurt. It was just a matter of Peach being trapped until I can get to her and free her.

"And you just...keep doing it?" Cappy sounded lethargic as he said that, which wasn't like him at all. Was he feeling hopeless? "Knowing that she'll just get taken again?"

Of course I keep saving her. The Mushroom Kingdom would be in ruins without their leader, and besides, she isn't happy being kidnapped. I would save her a hundred times if I had to, because it was simply the right thing to do. Cappy would do the same for Tiara, right?

"Of course I would! It's just..." Cappy sighed, "I'm so worried about her..."

The gentle sound of the propellers on the sub was the only sound as Cappy slid further down my forehead. Maybe waiting to get somewhere without having skills to review just made him realize how bad the situation was.

"You don't recognize that thing, do you?"

I shook my head.

"That's what I was afraid of..."

So that was it. He was put at ease when he realized that Bowser never intended to harm Tiara, but he didn't know the intentions of this new monster.

And neither did I.

I rubbed the top of his head, trying to console him. This wasn't the first time Peach had been kidnapped by someone other than Bowser, simply because many people wanted the power and status that came with having a Princess in their possession. She hadn't been harmed by them yet.

"Okay..." Cappy leaned back against the cushioned seat.

It was just at that moment when the cave gave way to the lake, and we were once again engulfed in light.

* * *

"Mario!"

Cappy was shaking me awake. I hadn't realized that I'd fallen asleep.

It was so dark, I could barely see Cappy, but his large red eyes were unmistakable. Why was it so hot all of a sudden?

"We've reached our destination!"

Had we really? Where were we, even?

"Mario, are you okay?"

I sat up and rubbed my forehead.

"Hey, it's okay..." Cappy grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet, "I know it's hot, but wait'll you see why!"

Suddenly, the darkness disappeared as the sub rose, giving way to bright colors, and...was that the smell of soup?

I realized where we were even before I realized the sub was rising from molten candy.

"Isn't that crazy!?" Cappy flew out once the glass ceiling had lifted, "Come on! We haven't been here in forever, let's explore!"

The Luncheon Kingdom.

The smell of delicious food was overpowering, so much so that I realized I hadn't eaten anything since all four of us visited Downtown New Donk for lunch yesterday. My stomach rumbled.

Cappy took his usual spot on my head, "Let's stop for breakfast! Then we can look for the key!"

His enthusiasm was inspiring. It didn't take too long to get to the main plaza, where I was more than happy to spend all my coins on the popular stupendous soup this land was famous for, and wow it's no wonder Bowser stole it for his sham wedding.

"Oh, by the way..." Cappy flew up, turning back into his top hat form as I ate the soup, "Do you know where we can find a key? Like, a big one that would open a castle door?"

"Oh yes!" The fork chef replied, "But it's pretty high up. To be honest, nobody knows where it came from, or which castle door it's supposed to unlock."

"I see! Thank you!" Cappy retook his place as soon as I'd finished my soup. I made sure to leave a good tip.

"So, there's a checkpoint up there, right?"

I slid the map out of my pocket, pressing the checkpoint for the top of Mount Volbono. As I did, the map disappeared, and Cappy warped us to the top of the mountain. At least the checkpoints were still working correctly.

Once we reached the volcano, I realized right away that the giant pot that sat at the top was resting atop the dormant volcano; And that someone familiar was leaning back against a nearby wall.

"AAAHHH!" Cappy flew off my head, "It's Bowser!"

Bowser jumped onto his feet, "Oh for crying out loud! I kidnap the princess, you bother me, I don't kidnap the princess, you bother me, what would it take to be rid of you!?"

I furrowed my brow. What was going on with him?

"What do you think!?" Bowser plopped back on the ground, crossing his arms angrily, "I'm planning on how I can get Princess Peach out of that castle!"

"So..." Cappy completely deflated, "You aren't responsible for that thing?"

"Do you really think so little of me?" Bowser glared angrily at the giant pot of soup, "Sending someone else to kidnap the princess? Please!"

It was true. Even when he does other dastardly things not related to kidnapping Peach, he prefers to do it himself, and only employs minions for less important tasks.

I guess Cappy was still scared for his sister...

"Um, anyway, have you seen a key anywhere around here?"

"Yeah, but good luck." Bowser tossed the key to me, "It's not the right one."

The key I caught was a solid purple; Unlike the holographic door of the black castle. It was about as heavy as the keys that worked in Peach's castle, but the shape was completely different.

"Then what's it for?"

"I couldn't care less!" Bowser said, "It won't help!"

"And what, you can't just use the crazy airships you have to grab her out of it!?"

"Would you rather I do that!?"

"I don't like it, but it's better than letting them rot in there!"

"I can't fight that monster, it's too powerful!"

"Stop!" I jumped between the koopa and the hat.

"Ah..." Cappy backed off first, "I'm sorry..."

Bowser shrugged, going back to his sulking.

I went back to examining the key. The more I looked at it, the more I realized I recognized the shape of the keyhole it was meant for. I just couldn't remember where the keyhole was, but it must've been in one of the places the four of us visited on our vacation. Where was it?

"Huh? Mario, what are you doing?"

I held the key out at arms-length, showing him what I was examining.

"Hey, I recognize that key shape!" Cappy waved his arms and squeezed his eyes shut, "Ummm...where was iiit!?"

Bowser pushed past us, "Who cares!? It won't help us save Peach!"

"But what if it does!?" Cappy insisted, "What if it leads us to another key!? Like, we need this key to-OCEAN!" he suddenly blurted, "Mario, this key does something in the Ocean Kingdom!"

I remembered. The purple door in the kingdom we visited under the ocean. It was locked.

I gripped the key tighter, stowing it in my front pocket. Cappy took his regular spot back as I passed Bowser, when something occurred to me.

"You want to bring me with you?" Bowser lifted one heavy red eyelid, "Why?"

I thought maybe he could help. He wants to save Peach too, after all.

"Pfft. You always beat me anyway." he shoved me to the side as he stomped away, which sent me sprawling on my back, "Figure it out, plumber."

Before I could point out that I wasn't even a plumber anymore, Cappy flew out in front of him, "Are you physically incapable of being anything other than a monster!?"

I stared at him with wide eyes, forgetting to stand up after I'd been shoved.

"Whatever. Let's go, Mario."

It wasn't until he was nestled on my head once again when I remembered how my muscles worked. I jumped up, then I ran.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Why that heartless good-for-nothing..."_ Cappy was angrily muttering under his breath, "Anyway, how are we going to get to the Ocean Kingdom?"

I figured we could take another sub, but then I realized I didn't really know how to do that.

"Well, let's ask a local." and then Cappy was quiet.

I sighed. Bowser was probably just annoyed and frustrated. That didn't mean he was intentionally being bad.

"I know, but it's still irritating." Cappy didn't move, indicating that his eyes were invisible, "Isn't it?"

I've known Bowser for a long time, so it's no surprise to me.

Cappy didn't respond, but he did ask directions to a travelling sub that led to the Ocean Kingdom. It was a stark contrast to suddenly be too cold after being too hot, but at least it was a slow change.

As the darkness of the molten candy gave way to the water of the ocean, Cappy leaned back on my head to look up at the fish that were swimming around outside the glass of the sub, "Are you on good terms with Bowser?"

Good terms?

"Well, you know...when he's not kidnapping Peach..."

Cappy's question confused me at first. It wasn't like I particularly liked Bowser, but that didn't mean I hated him. When he doesn't have plans for Peach or universal domination, he'll join in when we play tennis or go kart racing, and he always plays fair like the rest of us.

"Weird..." Cappy jumped off my head to fly around the sub. He seemed lost in thought, so I didn't interrupt that as he simply drifted around the enclosed area, making comical facial expressions to follow his train of thought.

When we arrived at the Ocean Kingdom, the sub slipped into an air pocket where we could breathe before opening to let us out. The Ocean Kingdom was located in a giant crater, several hundred feet underwater. It reminded me of the Lake Kingdom, with lots of fish, vegetation, and mermaids, but it was also overall darker, but with bright spots coming from pearls that radiated light. There were plenty of bubbles too, so I didn't have to worry about drowning.

With Cappy on my head, I jumped into the cool water, and quickly swam to the tunnel where I remembered the door was, when something jumped out of the sand to block the way.

"Ahh!" Cappy watched all the monster seaweed jump out and surprise me, taking one of my three available life energy, "Get out of here!"

I swam up, out of their reach. They were completely blocking the way. If I wanted to get in, I'd have to be fast.

"Mario, wait!" Cappy said, "What if the entire tunnel is full of them!? We'd never make it to the door!"

Realizing I was low on air, I retreated to one of the air pockets, where I could clearly look into the tunnel full of seaweed. Cappy was right, they were so dense that I'd never make it through.

I looked around for a fish I could capture. Maybe if I spun fast enough I could get through, but all the fish were gone. What happened to them?

"Huh? Where'd all the fish go?" Cappy looked around with me, until he gasped, "Mario, look!"

I turned to the direction he was looking. Something clearly stood out in the darkness, near the top of the crater.

"It's a multi-moon!"

I pulled Cappy down on my forehead before jumping back into the water. The multi-moon was far away, so I had to pick up plenty of air bubbles to avoid drowning. I had a bad feeling as I got closer to it, though. Like it was going to trigger a boss battle.

A giant eel burrowed out of the ground to swallow the multi-moon, then tried to swing at me. I swam out of the way, and it spun around me, swimming around the deep crater.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Cappy shivered, "What's it doing!?"

I'd seen it before, in one of Peach's castle paintings, and again somewhere out in the universe, but this one was about ten times bigger. How was I supposed to get it if it swallowed the moon? It didn't usually do that! I tried to think of how I could beat it as it continued to try and bite me, sometimes swinging its tail at me like it was annoyed.

And then I saw the shells along the sea floor, which I hadn't seen in ages, and got an idea. Diving down deeper, I grabbed the shell, which propelled me forward without the need for me to wave my arms. Positioning it right, I threw the shell as hard as I could at the eel's face, and it reeled back in pain. It was only a matter of time before it fell. It screeched, disappeared in a puff of bubbles, and the multi-moon was freed.

Cappy whistled, "How'd you know that would work? You've seen them before?"

I gave a quick nod, seeing that the scared fish had simply been hiding from the giant eel, and were now swimming around in the open. I quickly captured one before I could drown, and used it to grab the multi-moon. Normally, after collecting a multi-moon, we would zip back to The Odyssey, but since we had no ship for now, we just continued where we left off, twirling through the seaweed to make it through the tunnel to the door.

I jumped out into the air pocket in the room with the purple door, after abandoning the fish. Once I hit dry ground, I bumped into someone unexpected.

He stumbled backwards before he smiled at me, "Mario!"

I beamed in response.

"Luigi!" Cappy swirled around my brother, "It's good to see you again! Where's your balloon pack?"

He frowned, "Lost it. I ran into Bowser a few days ago, and he threw a massive fireball at my head!"

"Oh no! Are you okay!?"

"I am now, but he destroyed my hat."

"Huh?" Cappy eyed his head, which held his usual green cap, "Did you get a new one?"

"Hehe, sort of." He pointed up with one finger as the hat flew upwards, turning into a grey bowler hat, her purple eyes framed with large dark lashes.

"Hey! Lucy!" Cappy got stars in his eyes, "I remember you!"

"It's nice to see you again, Cappy!" she was the one running the purple coin shop in the first two kingdoms, "I've been adventuring with Luigi! He's so cool!"

I nodded approvingly. My brother was ivery/i cool.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me..." Luigi pointed behind him with his thumb, "That door won't open without a key. Do you happen to have one?"

I pulled the purple key from my pocket.

"Oh! Nice!" Luigi tightened his hands into fists, "Go open the door, Bro!"

I quickly obliged, running to the door and twisting the key into the lock. The door swung open with a iClick!/i I stepped aside to let more light into the dark enclosure, and to let Luigi see inside.

All the tiny space had in it was a bright red key. Not rainbow multi-colored. Disappointed, but not surprised.

"Well, then." Cappy lifted the key, which looked enormous in his tiny arms, "Looks like we need to go on a wild goose-chase, opening new doors until we get the key we need..."

"Aw, man..." Luigi scratched his head, "What do you need a key for?"

"Peach and Tiara were kidnapped." Cappy handed the key to me, "Again."

"Really!?" Luigi brought both hands to his face, "When!?"

"Yesterday. It wasn't by Bowser this time, and that's why we're so worried..."

I pocketed the new key and moved towards the exit, Luigi close behind, "I'm sorry. I'll keep an eye out for more keys, though I'm not sure it would do much good..." he stopped walking, and I turned back to face him. A look of horror took its place in Luigi's features, "Then, does that mean...?"

Lucy had a similar look in her large oval eyes, "We'd better go, Luigi!"

"Oh! Before we do, here's a power moon we found!" Luigi said, "We haven't found it useful, but maybe you will!"

I watched him fiddle with the snap on his front pocket, brandishing the power moon for me to take. We now had 4 power moons in total.

Satisfied, Luigi grabbed Lucy's brim, who was back on his head as his green cap, "Come on, Lucy! Let's go!"

And then he was gone, having captured his own fish to swim out with. Cappy settled back on my head as he looked at the retreating Luigi-fish.

"Huh. Not bad." was his final remark.


	4. Chapter 4

After getting directions to the next door, we were back in the taxi-sub. Cappy was pacing through the air, sometimes bumping into the walls because he wasn't paying attention. As amusing as it was, I couldn't help but be curious as to why he was suddenly so lost in thought. Finally, when I was about to ask what was on his mind, he spoke;

"Did you know Tiara used to be afraid of bright lights?"

I stared at him. His eyes were drifting outside, to the fish, but they seemed out of focus, like he was looking at something in a memory, and not what was around him at that moment.

"When Tiara was younger, she took comfort in the darkness of Bonneton. It was familiar, and easy on the eyes, but one day, she was outside when the full moon was out, and it freaked her out! 'It's too bright!' She said, 'It hurts my eyes!" she said. She wasn't used to the brightness of it, so she would hide from its light, afraid it would make her go blind. I had to coax her out by saying that if it was bad enough to blind her, I would be blind, because I love looking at the moon..." he sighed wistfully, tipping to the side and relaxing his arms, "And now she can be in direct sunlight without fear...she's come so far..."

I frowned. I knew what that was like, caring about a sibling like that. It's the reason I often intentionally leave Luigi out of my "adventures", because I don't want to see him get hurt. That being said, though, Luigi and I were twins, so we grew up together, at the same time. I had no idea what it was like to watch a younger sibling grow up after you.

When I voiced this, Cappy drifted even further down, his forehead tapping against the glass of the sub, "It's not even close...I had friends who were the same age as me growing up, like Lucy, and of course I care about them as well, but when you grow up with someone younger than you, it's like finding a stranded bird with a broken wing. You want to protect them, to see them grow up strong, and to make sure they're happy. You feel like you have that power, until the bird's wing heals, and it flies away. You can't directly protect them anymore, but you never stop trying..."

Something dripped onto one of the sub's padded seats. At first I was afraid the glass was leaking, but then I realized it had fallen from Cappy himself.

He was crying.

"Mario, I'm so worried about her!" Cappy sniffled, rubbing his eyes, "That monster that took her is so horrid! And this is taking so much longer than I'd hoped! What if it's hurt her by now!? How much longer will this take!?"

I carefully stood, stepping across the floor to him. I wrapped one arm around him, trying to offer some kind of comfort. I'd lost track of how many times Peach had been kidnapped, plenty of times it wasn't even by Bowser, but she'd always come back unharmed. Tiara would be fine.

Cappy leaned into my shoulder, _"You really think so?"_

I used my hand to give the top of his head a few pats. His tears stopped falling, and his shaking came to a halt.

"Ugh..." Cappy wiped the rest of his tears away, "I'm sorry..."

I shook my head, pressing my hand against the glass of the sub.

"Heheh..." Cappy straightened up, his expression closer to his usual cheerfulness, "Thanks, Mario."

The sub came to a stop, and the glass covering opened.

"Well, here we are!" and just like that, he was back to his usual self.

The sand around us stretched as far as the eye could see, besides the pool of ocean we'd come from where the sub was now retreating. The Sand Kingdom could be seen in the distance, very far on the horizon. Where a random key door could be found all the way out here was beyond me, but I was ready to explore regardless, and so was Cappy.

"Alright." Cappy took his place back on my head, "Do you see anything?"

I pulled Cappy further down over my eyes to shield them from the sun. I looked for any Jaxi call points, but there were none to be found. Just sand.

"Whoa, what's that?"

I saw it, too. A large worm slid out of the sand, slithering through it as easily as a fish through water. I wonder if I could capture it? I threw Cappy at it, and amazingly enough, it stuck.

"Whoa! Be careful!" Cappy cried as I twirled in the air towards him, "This one's jittery!"

This worm was unlike anything I'd captured thus far. It had no limbs, and no eyes, but oddly enough, I could see through the sand, and move through it just fine. I never have explanations for how I can immediately pick up on a creature's natural instincts like I'd lived in their mind forever, and still be able to think like myself. Maybe that was Cappy's doing.

"Nice! Now we can travel much faster than if we were on foot!"

He was right, the sand worm was able to travel at near breakneck speeds that even rivaled the speed of Jaxi. It made it much easier to sweep the desert for the red door. Unfortunately, I couldn't distinguish any light or colors as the sand worm, so I would travel a great distance, then jump out of the worm to assess the landscape, then recapture the same worm, or capture a new one nearby. Finally, I hit something in the sand.

"Hey! Look at that!"

I jumped from the worm to see what Cappy was looking at. The red door, buried under several layers of sand. I began to push the sand out of the way, when I suddenly fell backwards out of shock.

"OW!" a chunk of my health was taken out, and I was back down to 2/3.

"What the-!?" Cappy reached for the door before he recoiled, "The door is burning hot!"

I waved my arm around in the air, trying to get the burning feeling in my fingers to stop. This door was so hot, it triggered the same response as when I fell into lava! And I hadn't even been immersed in it, it just touched the tips of my fingers! If we tried to unlock the door with the key, it would melt before the door could unlock! What was going on!?

"Ah!" tiny cartoonish sweat marks flew from Cappy's head, "Mario, are you okay!?"

"Yeah..." I rubbed my palm over the burn marks on my fingers. They were taking a long time to fade.

"How are we going to open this door if we can't even touch it!?" Cappy tried to reach for the door again, but once again recoiled before he'd even touched it, "Can the sand worms touch it?"

I tested the theory, throwing Cappy at one of the nearby worms, but upon ramming into the door, the worm disappeared and booted me out.

"Here, lemme see the key."

I obliged, handing it to him carefully. He shifted it in his arms so the handle was toward the door, then carefully brought it closer. The key began to glow, then slowly started to melt.

"Okay, the key seems pretty strong." he set it down carefully on the ground, "I have an idea. I'll be right back." and then he pushed himself into his flat red cap form before twirling away, in the direction of the ocean. All I had to do now was wait for him to get back.

Once he was out of sight over the sandy horizon, the ground started to rumble, pushing more sand over the door. I quickly grabbed the key before it could fall against the scalding door, stashing it away to keep it safe. What was happening? Would I have to fight something without Cappy's help?

My suspicions were confirmed when a giant sand worm burst out of the sand, roaring in anger. It tried to attack me, so I sidestepped and ran. Not feeling the weight of Cappy on my head made me feel unprotected, like he was my armor, but there was a time when I didn't have the help of Cappy, or Luma, or even my hammer. One time, I only had my bare fists to protect me, and I managed to save the day anyway.

So how did I do it?

I didn't have long to find a strategy. The sand worm had begun to manipulate the sand so it was closer to quicksand, dark and muddy, pulling me down. I couldn't jump very well, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught something on the worm's body as it whizzed past me; Its body was covered in tiny ligaments which it used to push through the sand, and they had grooves on them that I could potentially use to climb. Deciding to roll with the idea, I waited for the worm to come back around, then I reached out with my hand to grab the grooves. It was hard to hold on, the constant sand and shifting of the worm's body making my hands hurt since I didn't want to fall, but I didn't have a better option without Cappy. Finally, I managed to climb on the worm's back. It noticed my progress, and so it lurched forward, trying to throw me off. In its haste, however, it slammed its head against the red door, burning its face.

It quickly retreated when this process was repeated, (my hands feeling very weak and sore) leaving a shining multi-moon behind.

It was at this moment when Cappy returned, upside-down, with his inside full of water. I watched in awe as he carefully poured this water onto the door, cooling it down so it was no longer glowing so bright, and releasing a lot of steam.

"Awesome!" Cappy tested the temperature of the door, and found it to be acceptable, "This should be cool enough to..." his eyes fell on the multi-moon, and one of his lower eyelids lifted in a kind of disbelieved grimace, "Did...did I miss something?"

I waved an arm dismissively as I plucked the multi-moon out of the air. It was pretty intense, but I've been through worse.

"That's, um...not reassuring at all, but okay..." Cappy dropped onto my head as I pulled the key out to fit it into the lock, "I just can't leave you alone, can I?"

I shrugged, sliding the key into the lock and twisting it before it could transfer too much of the remaining heat to my hands. I kicked the door open this time, reaching in to get the new key. This one was two-toned, shifting in varying shades of gold, but still without the varying rainbow colors of the black castle door.

"Still?" Cappy visibly deflated, "Is this going to take as long as the first time?"

The concern in Cappy's voice physically hurt me. We could do this, those two will be fine. We just have to keep going.

"You-you're right!" Cappy straightened up again, "So, how are we going to find the location of this key's door?"

That was a good question. There were no natives here to point us in the right direction.

"Wait, what's that?"

I turned in that direction. Cappy flew off my head to point across the desert, "See? Over there? It looks like the Oasis Kingdom!"

I narrowed my eyes. It was!

"Let's go over there! Maybe there's a door that we missed!" he took his usual spot shortly after.

I used a desert worm to get over there, and then I abandoned it when I reached the water. The sun was high overhead, getting close to evening, so the water would be warm enough to swim through. I decided to look under the water first, since it would be too cold later.

"Hey, there are fish around here too." Cappy said, "You can use those to look around!"

So I did. I swam through the main body of the lake first, and then I explored its separate canals. I happen to swim over the place where The Odyssey had crashed, when something caught my eye under all the blackened metal.

I jumped out of the fish to investigate.

"Huh? Did you see something?" Cappy had been dozing.

I pointed with one finger, among the rubble. I dove deeper, pushing the large slabs of metal out of the way, and coming up for air fairly often, before I got to the thing that I'd spotted; A doorknob. It was made of gold, so it hadn't rusted under the water, and it gleamed under the light of the sun. I pulled the key from my pocket, and carefully unlocked the door, swinging it open. There wasn't just one tiny room behind the door, though. It was a whole tunnel that drilled into the Earth far enough that it was too dark to see the bottom. I went back to the surface for air.

"Wow." Cappy began to pace through the air as I treated the water around me, "That door didn't have a key behind it! Maybe this is the last one!"

We could only hope.

After grabbing another fish, I plunged into the water, sinking down further and further until it was impossible to see through the darkness. Something was going to jump out at me, I could tell.

Suddenly, a light was flicked on, and an angler fish opened its massive jaws.


	5. Chapter 5

10 power moons.

"Oh boy oh boy..." Cappy was panting as we rested in the air pocket in the anglerfish arena, "That wasn't pleasant at all..."

I couldn't agree more. The thing just wouldn't go away! It was so resilient that I lost several fish trying to fight it, and sometimes I wasn't able to get out of the way in time. I don't even know what finally made it leave, it was all a blur. There were no air bubbles down here either. The only source of air was this one air pocket, the low-health warning beeped in my ears before I could grab the moon to reset it.

"This doesn't inspire confidence...come on, one more time..."

I mechanically pulled the new key from my pocket. Rainbow. Holographic. The exact color of the door we needed to open.

"Okay...okay I think I'm ready now..." Cappy settled himself on my head, "You ready?"

I nodded, carefully standing up and cracking my back. _I'm getting too old for this._ Which was an interesting thought, because I'm only 24 years old.

"Okay, let's do this."

It was a quiet swim up to the surface, and a quiet walk to the door. We were both tired, and we just wanted to get the girls back so we could stop worrying about them and resume our vacation. I ran the back of my fist against my forehead as I approached the door. The final frontier.

I slid the key into the keyhole and twisted, it fit perfectly. It clicked, and then let us in. There was no time to waste, we hurried inside, the door slamming shut behind us. We were engulfed in complete darkness.

As my eyes adjusted, I could see a few things. For one, the inside looked just like the outside; Black brick walls. The room was circular, with one straight hallway across from the door we'd just entered, stretching side by side to connect to the towers on the outside.

"H-hey..." Cappy whispered as he shivered in fear, "Be careful in that hallway, okay? I have a bad feeling about it..."

Seeing no other way to proceed, I looked around the corner of one of the hallways, seeing a ladder that led upwards at the end.

"What's that sound?"

I listened. A quick thumping, and it was getting closer-!

"WAAAH!"

I fell backwards, hearing a huge iron door open and slam shut. I jumped up, looking around for what could have hit me. I was alone. I put both hands on my head. Cappy was gone.

I looked down the hall, seeing something dressed all in heavy armor bolt down the hall and disappear inside the wall. Realizing what must have happened, I jumped into the hallway and watched the armored figure get closer and closer until it grabbed me by my leg and dragged me into the wall as well. When I managed to open my eyes, the figure threw me into a corner, where my back hit a pile of coins and jewels and other kinds of riches.

It then proceeded to stand by the far wall, waiting for something else to come through.

I kept my voice quiet, so I wouldn't draw its attention, "Cappy."

"I'm over here."

I turned to the voice. Cappy was still in his red cap form, sitting on a pedestal among other hats. All of them were ordinary hats, and even from here I could see Cappy shivering in fear. I carefully brought a finger to my lips, signaling that he should be quiet. He gave a single, terrified nod.

I carefully sat up, then stood, tip-toeing towards the pedestal where Cappy sat. When I'd almost reached out to grab him, the armored figure blocked me with his arm. Cappy flinched, but he didn't make a sound.

"You can have that hat of yours..." it opened its palm, showing off a colorful power moon that shone through the darkness, "Or you can have this..."

I rolled my eyes, reaching once again for Cappy. It was probably some kind of bargain to keep more rare treasures in exchange for power moons...but as I reached for Cappy again, my hand hit a barrier. It was like he was in a glass case, but there was no glass. My heart sank. Did I have no choice?

 _"Mario."_ Cappy breathed, just barely loud enough for me to hear, _"Take the power moon. I have an idea."_

I shook my head. Why would I just leave him here?

 _"I think that moon is powering the barrier. I might be able to fly out if you take it."_

I was skeptical, but I saw no other option. So, bracing myself, I reached for the power moon in the thing's other hand. As soon as I had it in my hands, Cappy flew off the pedestal and around the room.

"What the-!?"

I handed the moon back to the monster with a bow, quickly grabbing Cappy out of the air and throwing him at the knight monster. Its helmet came off, and then I was able to capture it, taking advantage of its dizziness afterwards to grab the moon again and get out of there.

"Whew! That was terrifying!" Cappy didn't relax, but he was visibly relieved, "For a second I was afraid you would abandon me!"

Why would I do that? I may be tough on Bowser's minions, but I'm not a monster.

"I know, but still..." Cappy shook himself, "Anyway, which way now?"

I bolted down the hallway to the ladder, climbing it before the thing from before could catch us again. The next room up was where the ladder stopped, and the ceiling up here blocked me from jumping, so I stepped onto the second floor. I heard something around this corner, into the circular room above the one we'd first entered. It sounded like...paws...

Turning the corner, I saw that the circular room had a wolf in it. A giant black wolf with big sharp teeth. I looked across the hall to the other side, which had a locked door at the end of it. If I had to guess, I would have to get past the wolf to get the key.

The wolf sniffed the air, then growled.

Cappy let out a terrified squeak, and the wolf lunged. I jumped just in time, diving behind the beast as it lunged again, its teeth bared. It didn't get me, but its jaws closed on Cappy, and it ran off with its prize.

"AAAHHH! HEEELP MEEE!"

I shook my head, trying to clear the sudden dizziness. Where did it go?

This was no ordinary wolf. It seemed to realize that it wouldn't have to chase after me if it stole Cappy, because it would run away from me as soon as I tried to get close. What was I supposed to do? If I got too close then _both_ of us would die!

"MARIO! DO SOMETHING!"

I looked around the room, looking for anything I could use to get rid of the wolf. It was getting impatient, and if I didn't think of something right now...

The wolf lunged at me, its jaws still closed around Cappy, and I jumped to avoid the attack. Running around it in a circle, I waited for it to stop moving just long enough for me to grab its tail and spin it into the wall. It cracked its nose on the bricks, dropping Cappy and howling in pain. It then disappeared, leaving a small silver key in its wake.

"Cappy?" I kneeled down to his level, where he was lying on the ground. I poked him a few times. The top of his cap had already healed from being bitten, but Cappy hadn't seemed to register that the danger was gone. His shivering and shaking was rattling his entire frame, and he had both arms over his eyes.

"Um, yeah...sorry…" he straightened up shaking his head, "Thanks for the save. Again. I'm fine, let's keep going."

I didn't totally believe him, but he wasn't shaking too bad once he had his perch back, so I figured I could calm him down after Peach and Tiara had been rescued.

The rest of the castle wasn't very tall, it was just a matter of finding the right tower. Climbing up the giant spiral staircase was unnerving, though, because the higher I climbed, the darker and quieter it became. Every one of my footsteps seemed to pound in my ears as the darkness claimed more and more of my field of view, until I finally reached the heavy stone door at the very top. It was unlocked.

The light inside was a warm yellow, created by several lanterns along the wall. The soft sound of fire crackling could be heard now, along with my cautious footsteps as I made my way into the large room. There were a few more doors in here, maybe one of them led to another staircase.

"Wait."

Cappy's voice startled me out of my skin.

"Sorry…" Cappy slid off my head, after my startled jump knocked him askew, "Look up there."

I couldn't believe my eyes. Thousands of statues of beautiful women. Some with long hair, some with shorter hair, some wearing dresses with lace, some wearing a simpler shirt and pants. All of them looked terrified.

Cappy's eyes widened, any color he had in his face draining away.

"What?" I turned in that direction.

"They're…" Cappy watched me numbly walk forward, " _They're…"_

One of the stone statues was about a head taller than me. She had long, fluffy blonde hair, that lovely pink dress…

I placed my hand gently on her cheek. Princess Peach - Tiara frozen on her head - in silent fear.

"What happened to them?" Cappy quivered as he floated closer to my head, "Hey, do you hear that?"

I listened. I couldn't make it out clearly at first, but it became more obvious as it got louder, closer…

It sounded like...a heartbeat…

"Mario _watch out!"_

I jumped as the gnarled woman from before crashed into the room. More than three times her previous height, her head scraped the ceiling as she reared back and roared.

"AAAAAAAA!"

I grabbed a now-panicking Cappy as the woman struck, with terrifying accuracy. I would have to stay on my feet if I wanted to get rid of her.

"Mario!"

I looked up, just dodging another swing of her vicious claws. I could tell I wouldn't have the same amount of time to figure out a strategy, but I couldn't properly think if I was so focused on not getting hit, and, I mean, I'm not old by any means, but that didn't mean I could last forever.

"MARIO!"

Cappy flew off my head as the monster's back-hand hit me in the stomach, sending me sprawling across the ground. My vision swam as the impact caused a giant bump to form on my head. 2/3

The floor began to cave underneath me. I cried out for help.

"Mario!" I heard Cappy's distant voice, "It's okay! I'll help you! I'm coming!"

The static began to build in my head. Cappy was a fast flier, so why was he taking so long?

The monster roared again. I attempted to stand, not wanting to fall into the abyss of the castle should the floor totally collapse. My vision doubled, I could barely see or hear anything. I was at a loss. What could I do now!?

Another impact hit, tearing through my skin and sending me flying. I burst through the castle walls. I heard Cappy scream.

That was my last memory before I hit the water.

It was the middle of the night.


	6. Chapter 6

My eyelids fluttered open in the darkness. All I could register was being overwhelmingly hot. I could hear someone calling out to me. Cappy. He was shaking me.

I sat up grabbing the bump on my head. The low-health warning beep filled my ears before Cappy gasped.

"Mario! You're okay!"

I coughed, spilling lake water from my throat. It hurt to breathe, but I tried to anyway, taking shallow gulps of air into my sore lungs.

Cappy helped me stand, grabbing my arm to hoist me onto my feet. I ran a hand over my forehead, which was beginning to burn. I realized why a second later; I was back in the village by the castle, next to the small bonfire. Cappy must have been trying to warm me up after I fell in the freezing water.

Cappy looked down at the ground, shivering and shaking.

" _I was afraid you wouldn't wake up…"_

I tried to reach out to him, when all of a sudden, he burst into tears.

"MARIOOOOO! I'M SOOORRYYYYYYY!"

I nearly fell backwards in shock.

Cappy squeezed his eyes shut as he wailed, "I JUST COULDN'T GET TO YOU! I WAS SO SCARED, IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I JUST WANT MY SISTER BAAAACK!"

I quickly shook myself out of my stupor so I could scoop up the sobbing hat in my arms, giving him a tight hug. I was here. We were okay, and alive. Cappy would see his sister soon, and I would see Peach. We would be fine, we would be okay.

"N-No!" Cappy jumped back to look into my eyes, "You d-don't understand! I-I had to…" he hid his face in my shoulder, "I had to capture you! I wasn't strong enough to carry you, so I possessed you! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, Mario!"

I blinked. He took me over? I guess he was the one who gave me that power in the first place, so it made sense he could capture me, too. He was controlling me to get me here?

"Mario…" Cappy had calmed himself somewhat, but he still shook like a leaf, "You're the best friend I've ever had, and I thought I was going to lose you... _I'm so sorry I had to capture you…"_

I carefully sat down, still cradling Cappy in my arms. He saved my life. I didn't mind that he had to capture me, because at least I was still here. He did what he had to, and I'm grateful for that.

Cappy sniffed, looking at me again with wide, watery eyes, "So...you forgive me?"

No, because he did nothing wrong. Thank you for saving my life, you silly hat! I ran my fist into the top of his head.

"Ahahaha! Hey! Cut it out!" he escaped my grasp, that nice smile taking over his features as he chuckled, "I'm not a child, you know!"

I playfully rolled my eyes as I stood up again, brushing the dust off my overalls and red shirt.

"I saw that!" Cappy tried to look cross, but I could tell he was still smiling, "Don't give me attitude, mister! I could capture you again, you know!"

I waved my hands in surrender.

"Yep, that's what I thought!" Cappy exhaled, "Hey, for real, though. Thanks for cheering me up."

It was no trouble. Cappy reverted back to my red cap so he could relax on my head again. His constant weight had grown to be a comfort to me, something I took for granted when I had a normal non-sentient hat. He wasn't just an article of clothing; He was a friend you wear on your head.

"Come on! Let's go and get those two! I know we can do it this time!"

I pulled him down on my forehead, running towards the ladder that would take us up. The chill was welcome for a while, seeing as being so near the fire was too extreme.

Getting back to the castle was easy enough, but the holographic door wouldn't open. It had locked up again.

"The key!" Cappy jumped up to search the ground, "Where's the key!?"

I found it, well, a piece of it anyway. The key had been split into several shards.

"Oh no!" Cappy tried to put the pieces back together, but they wouldn't stick, "What do we do now!?"

"Mario!"

I turned to the voice, dropping the key shards.

It was Luigi! He was on one of Bowser's massive airships, Lucy on his head, with Bowser, the Koopa Kids, and even the Broodals! Luigi jumped down so he was standing on the ground.

"We're here to help, bro!" Luigi pumped his fist in the air, "It wasn't easy, but I managed to convince Bowser that we needed to save Peach!"

I ran to my brother and gave him a crushing hug, "Thank you!"

"Oh!" he was surprised at first, but quickly returned my embrace, "No problem, bro!"

I gave him a beaming smile as I stepped back, jumping up onto Bowser's airship.

"You were right, Mario. Cappy." Bowser grimaced, crossing his arms, "As much as I hate to admit it, Peach will never come back if I don't at least try."

"I knew it!" Cappy jumped up, once again a white top hat, "I knew you had it in you!"

"Yeah yeah, save it for the rescue, kiddo."

"I'M NOT A KID!"

"Guys! Focus!" Luigi joined us onboard, pointing into what was left of the castle, "Now that the walls are broken down, we can simply attack that way! No key required!"

"Nice!" Cappy fell onto my head, "Let's go, Mario!"

I nodded.

Bowser gave a wave of his hand, and the airships rose, high enough to let us jump right into the castle. The monster was furious, but this time it was vastly outnumbered. I could hear Bowser Jr.'s distinct laugh as they all descended on her, but she barely seemed encumbered by it. I lept back from the action. Now that she was distracted, I could actually figure out a real strategy. I ran around her as she spun on the various enemies, trying to find her weak spot. Every enemy had one.

"Mario! Look!"

I followed Cappy's gaze. The monster had a glowing mark on the back of its head. That must be it! But it was so high up, and there were hardly any walls left high enough to jump all the way up there.

"Hey, I have a crazy idea!" Cappy shouted over all the noise, "It just might work! Remember how you climbed that one wall before!?"

I looked up at him in disbelief. He didn't mean…!?

"Trust me on this, okay!?" he braced himself, almost enough to cover my eyebrows, "Throw me!"

I grabbed his brim, planting my feet, then I threw.

I jumped up onto him, landing on the gnarly monster's knee. Before she could swipe me away, I threw Cappy again, batting her hand away, then I jumped again. I continued this, throwing Cappy, jumping up on him, then landing on the woman's hip, arm, shoulder, until I reach the weak point. I jumped, grabbing what little bits of scraggly hair on her head I could reach, then I jumped one last time, and did a ground-pound.

She screeched, reaching for me until one of her blows connected, sending me flying again. This time though, I was caught by Luigi, who grabbed my arm as I sailed past, and letting me land on the airship.

"Good job, Bro! Rest for a minute, okay? We got this for now!"

I leaned against him gratefully, watching the others take turns following my lead as they bashed the mark on her head. I noticed something odd though as I caught my breath; Every time the mark was struck, a sparkle flew out of it.

"Power moons!" Cappy said, "That thing is full of power moons!"

Wow. No wonder it was so strong and fast...and why the settlement below had so many of them drained.

"We'll need to get them, then." Lucy slid off Luigi's head, reverting back to her derby hat form, "She could just grab them again if we don't!"

"Lucy, stay with my brother." Luigi jumped off the ship to begin collecting them.

"Are you okay?" Lucy carefully let me sit down, "You took quite a hit there."

I gave a short nod, wiping the sweat from my brow as I waited for my heart rate to slow down. It didn't take too much longer for me to catch my breath. I told Lucy to rejoin Luigi, then I slipped back into the battle. The woman had begun to shrink with the loss in power moons, and it was making her _very upset._ I would have to tread carefully to avoid detection, or I might receive another concussion.

"What should we do now?" Cappy asked, "If we do the same thing too many times, she'll catch on."

I had an idea, but I would have to be careful. The thing was getting desperate, and so its thrashing increased as more of its moons were lost. I would need to execute this so that every blow would release more than one moon at a time, leaving a larger margin of error.

"Okay, I know what to do." Cappy said, "Let's go!"

Since the thing was shorter now, it was easier to perform the necessary jumps to get to her head. Once there, I did a ground-pound like before, but then before it could throw me off, I threw Cappy into the wound before it stopped shining. He stuck, and began to pull moons out by the handful. He managed to grab about 12 before he was thrown off.

"AAAAAHHH!"

I caught him, and he lay back in my hands, panting, "Jeez, that was scary! It's working though! Just...just let me rest for a second…"

I put him on my head, his favorite place to be, while I looked at everyone else. Instead of simply striking the mark, now they were grabbing it and tugging on it, pulling dozens of moons out at a time.

Suddenly, everything was thrown back.

The sky darkened, the walls continued to crumble, but everyone else was gone, and the thing charged towards me with a new vengeance. I jumped out of the way, just catching the new Luigi statue among the statues of Bowser, the Broodals, the kids…

 _Luigi._

I rolled, stopping on my knee to glare at the monster.

"Mario, what's wrong?"

My brother. My only twin brother.

I stood up and sprinted towards it, performing the jumping trick again and again to climb it, digging my fists into the shining mark in her head so I could drag power moons out myself. I was thrown off fairly often until the gnarled woman was small enough that I could stay on better by wrapping my legs around her neck and holding fistfuls of her hair with my free hand.

Finally, after hundreds of rounds of this, when every muscle in my body cried for rest and the edges of my vision were blurred and full of static, the thing was the size of a normal woman, even shorter than Peach, and it fell, throwing me off one last time before it disappeared. The room was full of power moons, but I didn't see half of them as I lay there, on the verge of unconsciousness, until the world stopped spinning and I could see through the blackness and hear through the pounding of my own heart.

By the time I was fully aware again, the sun had come up over the horizon, casting a hazy glow through the clouds. I felt something on my arm, slowly rising up and down. I turned to my left, and there was Cappy, nestled in the crook of my elbow, softly snoring as he dozed.

I lay my head back, taking a second to breathe. After the chaos of the battle, it was so peaceful and quiet. I was in the grass, outside where the castle used to be, and I could hear birds singing, and wind blowing through the trees.

"He's awake!"

I jumped up, waking Cappy. I knew that voice.

I turned around, looking for the owner of the voice.

" _Thanks for that…"_ Cappy rubbed his head in annoyance. I gave a distracted apology as Princess Peach ran to me, her heels rustling through the grass as she held up her skirt so as not to trip.

"Mario!" Peach stooped to kiss my cheek, which made me a little dizzy, "Thank you for saving me!" she stepped back, blushing slightly, "Um, again."

I smiled.

"Mario!" Luigi barreled into me, "You did it! You saved all of us! I knew you could!"

I returned Luigi's hug. Of course I would save them. Why wouldn't I?

" _Cappyyyy!"_

Tiara sailed through the air to tackle Cappy, rubbing her cheek into his, "Rescue me faster next time! That was so scary!"

"T-Tiara…" Cappy began to cry, softer than last time, but still with big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. He nuzzled her affectionately, "Oh my goodness, Tiara! I was afraid I'd never see you again! I'm sorry! I'll get you out sooner next time, okay!?"

Peach knelt down so she could take my hands, her skirt billowing gracefully around her, "Well, our vacation isn't over yet. We can always get a new ship and keep exploring."

I gently gave both her hands a squeeze. How did this princess never fail to captivate me? My heartbeat slowed when I looked in her eyes, it made rescuing her worth it every time just so I could see her smile.

"Yo! That was super cool!"

Luigi took the newcomer's hand. It was Princess Daisy, Peach's cousin.

"I could've beat her though, probably…" Daisy puffed her cheeks in annoyance, "Anyway, are we leaving or what!?"

Luigi gave a nervous laugh, "Of course, let's go."

Cappy tilted his head to the side, like a confused puppy, "Where are you going?"

"What?" Luigi shrugged, "You thought you were the only ones on vacation?"

"I'll race ya!" Daisy hiked her skirts up and bolted.

"Wah!" Luigi ran after her, "That's not fair! You got a head start!"

"It's payback for throwing a beach ball at my head!"

" _That was an accident!"_

"Don't care!~"

Their voices faded into the distance as they ran away.

"Well then…" Cappy turned back to Peach, "What about Bowser?"

"Oh, he told me something about how he loved me and how he'd come back for me later." she rolled her eyes, "Because kidnapping me and holding me in his castle against my will is a great way to show that he loves me."

I chuckled. Yeah, Bowser needs to learn when to take a hint.

"Well, nevermind that." Peach stood, brushing off her skirt, "We might as well enjoy this time while we have it. You need to rest, though. You took a bad hit to your head…"

She ran her fingers through my hair, gently brushing over the bump on my head. It felt really nice.

"Come on, then." Peach stood beside me and placed a hand on my back, "Let's see about that airship, hm?"

THE END


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